By Fr. Roy Cimagala
THAT story in the Bible about the Queen of Sheba being very impressed with the wisdom of Solomon (cfr. 1 Kings 10,1-10) and that gospel episode about Christ telling the people that what defiles a man is what comes out from the heart rather than what goes into the mouth (cfr. Mk 7,14-23) somehow remind us that we should really take care of our heart.
Our heart is where we can find our true self. It is where we integrate all aspects of our life—the natural and the supernatural, the material and the spiritual, the temporal and the eternal, etc. Knowing that, it should behoove all of us to really take care of it such that it enjoys its proper condition.
And the proper condition is when it is properly anchored on Christ who is the pattern of our humanity, the provider of “the way, the truth and the life” that are meant for us. That’s when we can truly say that we would be filling our heart with wisdom and love, a participation of the very wisdom and love of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit.
As the practical consequence of this truth of our faith about our heart, we need to realize that we should spend time knowing Christ so we can start identifying ourselves with him. In other words, we should develop a vibrant, healthy and working life of piety.
We should realize that we need to spend time reading, studying and meditating on the life, teaching and example of Christ. We should develop the appropriate virtues that we can learn from Christ, like humility, obedience, fortitude, patience, charity, mercy, etc.
Yes, we have to go through a certain plan, a certain regimen to make our relation with Christ vivid, operative and fruitful. Especially these days when we are easily drawn and swallowed up by worldly things due to the seemingly irresistible allurements brought about by powerful technologies, this need for this regimen and training program should be deeply felt and pursued.
Truth is Christ is always alive, is always solicitous of our needs, and is ever willing to share what he has with us. It just depends on us on whether we would correspond to this reality or not.
We are actually meant to assume the identity of Christ. And that is not a gratuitous, baseless assertion, much less, a fiction or a fantasy. It is founded on a fundamental truth of our faith that we have been created by God in his own image and likeness.
We have to arrive at that point where we can make St. Paul’s words as our own too: “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” (Gal 2,20)
We just have to learn to set aside whatever difficulty or awkwardness we may have in dealing with this basic truth of faith about ourselves. We have to try our best to know Christ and to adapt his very own mind and will, his own ways, behavior and reactions to whatever situation we may find ourselves in. This is how we can fill our hearts with the very wisdom and love of Christ as he commands us.
The ideal condition to have is first to know and love God in Christ so that we may know and love ourselves and others properly.
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
